Tuesday, December 8, 2009

STARS, NEWS, FEUDS 2009: CM PUNK AND JEFF HARDY HIGHS AND LOWS

That's the best way I can sum up 2009 for these two. Pun not intended.

CM PUNK

HIGHS

- Kicked off 2009 by winning the Intercontinental Title, making him a Triple Crown Champion. Punk won all three titles within 228 days, only four days shy of the fastest-ever Triple Crown Champion... uh, Diesel.

- Won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the second year in a row at WrestleMania XXV.

- Was pushed to the main event after being drafted to Smackdown!

- Cashed in his MITB contract on new World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy, thus starting the best slow-burn heel turn in recent memory.

- Had the feud of the year with Jeff Hardy over the World Heavyweight Championship, eventually winning the title for a third time

- Was proven to be so good on the mic, that even without a feud he could remain the most over heel on Smackdown by feuding with the fans

JEFF HARDY

HIGHS

- Entered 2009 as WWE Champion

- Was the most over face consistently for the majority of the year

- Won the World Heavyweight Title twice

- Had the feud of the year with CM Punk

- Put on entertaining main event matches all year with Punk. Edge and his brother Matt

CM PUNK

LOWS

- Squashed in the opening match of WWE Hell in a Cell, dropping the title to Undertaker

- Feud with Undertaker never got the blow off it deserved

- Was left without a feud after Undertaker took the belt

- Feuded with R-Truth and Scott Armstrong

JEFF HARDY

LOWS

- Was denied a WrestleMania WWE Title match when he dropped the belt to Edge to feud with his freshly turned brother Matt. What made this seem even more underwhelming, is that everyone suspected that Christian was behind Jeff Hardy's "accidents," but it ended up being Matt Hardy, which could've been (speculation) because word got out that Christian was returning. Frig.

- Hilarious promos. Not so much a low. But they were just so goddamn funny sometimes.

While they weren't really up against anything else (HHH/Orton didn't deliver, Cena/Orton was hit and miss, Jericho/Rey was a close second), this feud nailed every aspect of a good feud, and felt fresh and exciting all at the same time.

So while Punk and Hardy had ups and downs all year long, their feud this summer made WWE worth catching every week: